The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed as part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. Items on religion in the 1980 GSS include religious preference, church attendance, beliefs about life after death, and attitudes toward organized religion. In addition, the 1978 GSS contains a module on voluntary organization membership, including a measure of membership in church-affiliated groups. The 1978 GSS also contains a special module of items examining how often respondents and their friends think about certain topics, including abortion laws.

Data File

Cases: 1,532
Variables: 413
Weight Variable: FORMWT

Because of problems with the form randomization procedure used on the 1978, 1980, and 1982-1985 surveys, users should weight by FORMWT to adjust for incomplete randomization. In general, one should use FORMWT whenever analyzing form-related variables. This includes the following cases: 1) when comparisons are being made between experimental variables (e.g., COURTS and COURTSY in 1982); 2) when variables are being compared across years involving an experiment (e.g., EQWLTH which appears only on form 1 in 1978 with EQWLTH that appears on both forms in 1980, 1983, 1984, etc.); and 3) when a variable appears on one form only (e.g., the ISSP variables in 1985).

"The national sample uses a variation of the stratified probability proportional to size (PPS) method. First, the nation is divided into clusters, called primary sampling units (PSUs). PSUs are based on counties; the total number of households in each county, as reported by the most recent census. . . . Each metropolitan county is regarded as a PSU, as are many nonmetropolitan counties. Sparsely populated rural counties are merged into adjacent county units to obtain a minimum of 2,000 housing units.

"Since NORC samples are based on 100 PSUs, the total number of housing units for a year is divided by 100 to yield a sampling interval. (Some PSUs have total numbers of housing units exceeding the sampling interval, making it impossible for them not to be included in a sample. See Tourangeau, Johnson, Qian, and Shin, 1993 for further discussion on how these PSUs are treated.) Each PSU is assigned a number range based on its total number of housing units. Then a random number is selected, and the first PSU selected is the one within whose range the random number falls. Additional PSUs were selected by adding the sample interval to the initial random number on a cumulative basis.

"Once the 100 PSUs are selected, block segments consisting of linked groups of one or more geographically contiguous census blocs are also selected. Segment selections were made using PPS methods on the basis of the total number of housing units in the PPS relative to the national total."

"While it is not necessary to request permission from NORC before publishing analyses of these data, we do ask that NORC be cited as the source of your data. We also request that copies of reports which utilize the data be sent to the General Social Survey, NORC, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637." (vii)

Professional and photographic equipment, and watches239 Scientific and controlling instruments247 Optical and health services supplies248 Photographic equipment and supplies249 Watches, clocks, and clockwork-operated devices257 Not specified professional equipment

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION907 Postal service917 Federal public administration927 State public administration937 Local public administration

Note 3: NORC Size of Place

Codes for use with the variable XNORCSIZ:

1 Within an SMSA and a large central city (over 250,000)2 a medium-size central city (50,000 to 250,000)3 a suburb of a large central city4 a suburb of a medium-size central city5 an unincorporated area of a large central city (division, township, etc.)6 an unincorporated area of a medium central city7 Not within an SMSA, (within a county) and a small city (10,000 to 49,999)8 a town or village (2,500 to 9,999)9 an incorporated area less than 2,500 or an unincorporated area of 1,000 to 2,49910 open country within larger civil divisions, e.g., township, division

Note 4: SRC New Belt Codes

Codes for use with the variable SRCBELT:

1 Central city of twelve largest SMSAs2 Central city of remainder of the hundred largest SMSAs3 Suburbs of twelve largest SMSAs4 Suburbs of the remaining hundred largest SMSAs5 Other urban (counties having towns of 10,000 or more)6 Other rural (counties having no towns of 10,000 or more)

1.0-1.5 Short demonstration1.5-2.5 Up to thirty days2.5-3.5 Thirty-one days to three months3.5-4.5 Over three months, to six months4.5-5.5 Over six months, to one year5.5-6.5 One to two years6.5-7.5 Two to four years7.5+ Four to ten years

0 Not unemployed1 Unemployed during four years before last year and not main earner2 Unemployed during four years before last year and main earner3 Unemployed last year and not main earner4 Unemployed last year and during four previous years and not main earner5 Unemployed last year and not main earner and unemployed during previous four years and main earner6 Unemployed last year and main earner7 Unemployed last year and main earner and unemployed previous four years and not main earner8 Unemployed last year and previous four years and main earner both periods9 No answer

Note 13: Deaths of Relatives in Past Five Years

Codes for use with the variable DEATH5:

0 No deaths1 No deaths last year, one death during previous four years2 No deaths last year, two or more deaths during previous four years3 One death last year, none during previous four years 4 One death last year, one during previous four years5 One death last year, two or more during previous four years 6 Two or more deaths last year, none during previous four years7 Two or more deaths last year, one during previous four years8 Two or more deaths last year, two or more during previous four years9 No answer

WORKERS IN RELIGIONMinisters of Religion and Related Members of Religious Orders1410 Clergyman1411 High church official1412 Religious reciter1413 Evangelist1414 Missionary1415 Member of religious order1416 Assistant priest

LEGISLATIVE OFFICIALS AND GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATORSHeads of Government Jurisdiction2010 Chief of state2011 Provincial governor2012 District head2013 Head, large city2014 Head, city or small city2015 Village head